With temperatures in the upper 40s and mid-50s, some may think we’re in the middle of a heat wave in comparison to recent cold temperatures and the amount of wintry weather we’ve had. But make no mistake: we’re still in the dead of winter with several weeks to go before Spring, which means we’re still in the cold and flu season.

This is the time of year when everyone should take extra caution to protect themselves from getting sick.

Since there are no known cures for colds and flu, prevention must be your goal. A proactive approach to warding off colds and flu is apt to make your whole life healthier.

There are some things that you can do to help fight against cold and flu:

n Wash Your Hands — Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. Someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the telephone, the keyboard, a kitchen glass. The germs can live for hours — in some cases, weeks — only to be picked up by the next person who touches the same object. So wash your hands often.

n Don’t Cover Your Sneezes and Coughs With Your Hands — Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands, muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue, then throw it away immediately.

n Don’t Touch Your Face — Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.

n Drink Plenty of Fluids — Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it re-hydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs eight, 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day.

n Get Fresh Air — A regular dose of fresh air is important, especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. Also, during cold weather more people stay indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded, dry rooms.

n Do Aerobic Exercise Regularly — Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger quantities of blood; makes you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and makes you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body’s natural virus-killing cells.

During this, the cold and flu season, make it a priority to get a flu shot.

For more information on what you can do to prevent the spread of germs, log on to www.cdc.gov.